Mercy
by SUGARCOMACUPCAKE
Summary: "Eren's lip quivers in the small amount of light contained within his cell. The air is cold, but not cold enough to dull the searing pain overtaking his entire body. With a last effort and a breath, white steam rises from his mouth as he mutters, 'Mercy…' How dare he. How dare he ask for something like that from me." (Slight Levi x Eren two-shot)
1. Chapter 1

Eren's lip quivers in the small amount of light contained within his cell. The air is cold, but not cold enough to dull the searing pain overtaking his entire body. With a last effort and a breath, white steam rises from his mouth as he mutters,

"Mercy…"

How dare he. How _dare_ he ask for something like that from me. I've saved his life on multiple occasions and this is how he repays me. My already formed fists grow tighter, my teeth bare. My entire body is shaking. This… this _monster_ wants something that precious in this sick, cruel world? I stare down at his pathetic, nearly motionless form on the floor. Blood is caked beneath his nose and around his mouth. Bruises are forming in countless spots throughout his skin. His eyes are dull, he slowly breathes, holding onto the last strings of life and dignity that he has. He's fallen to me, I've disciplined him, and now he asks for mercy.

_My hands are tied with scratchy rope that's chaffing my skin. The cloth covering my mouth is dirty, damp and disgusting. Each time I breathe a rancid scent floods my nostrils. I try to move, but it's impossible. The stranger isn't paying any attention to my whimpers and cries as he chokes and tortures the people I love._

That selfish brat. If I were speaking my thoughts I would probably spit poison along with the words spewing out. My fury only multiplies when Eren whines at my most likely terrifying expression.

_Why can't I do anything? Why am I just watching this happen? The stranger pulls a blade from his satchel. My final plea is unheard as the weapon delves into my father's neck, as if trying to fish something out from the incision. Red is everywhere. I struggle, I try but it's pointless._

My eyes and face grow impossibly colder as I tediously inch closer to Eren. My shoes make an audible tapping sound on the hard ground.

"H-heichou… please…"

Are those tears in his emerald eyes? Those thoughts are disregarded, thrown out the window. With the little strength he possesses, he tugs at the chains holding his wrists. He bears a striking resemblance to a kicked puppy. Just like he is. The desperation in his tone only urges me on. Step by step the boy's being appears more pained.

_What's going to happen to me? Why is this person doing this? My head is spinning and foggy as the scene unfolds in front of me. My heart feels like it's being violently shredded apart at an agonizingly slow pace. Just so I could feel as much as possible. The man now grabs my mother. A final word on her lips._

"Mercy…"

I let out with a shaky breath. Eren must've heard it, despite it's discreetness, because he somehow manages to turn his head to look me dead in the eye.

"Yes… sir…"

The kid almost seems to be reaching out to me.

_Unfortunately for you, I have no mercy to give. If that didn't stop him, why should it stop me, or anyone?_

Some kind of blind rage overtakes me. I grab him by his shoulders and knee him in the stomach with more force than I gave him even in the court room. I intend to rip his soul apart from the inside out. Over and over I kick him. I hit him. I beat him senseless. I probably look and sound like some rabid animal. I feel no human emotion anymore; at least not in these moments. Eren doesn't move. He doesn't fight. He doesn't struggle. He lets me take away his state of well-being and his very pride. After about ten minutes of this, I hear running footsteps. A few soldiers had heard the commotion and came to see what was going on. They tried to talk sense into me, they tried to stop me from pummeling the poor, defenseless child.

_If that's what they see him as now… I must be more of a monster, huh?_

In the end they have to get Erwin to calm me down. The man's a prodigy, I'll tell you. It took one grab of my arm and one look to end my relentless fury. I stare down at the thrashed body it had resulted in. More blood stains his youthful face, his eyes closed. He looks strangely peaceful. The thought of death vanishes as quickly as it appeared when I see his chest still moving. Shaking out of Erwin's grasp, I feel tears begin to form. As I move away from the incident, I look back just for a moment to say,

"You're not getting anything from me, Eren Jaeger."

I made it sound menacing. Even Erwin's eyes slightly widened. I leave, though I know that was a huge lie.


	2. Chapter 2

A few weeks after that incident, we're doing a mini test mission before our test mission. Does the military police really have to do this? It's been spread that I can beat the crap out of the kid, so what're they so afraid of? Seriously, how do they expect him to be a threat when he winces every time I move within ten feet of him? Personally, I'm somewhat offended. Offended or not, we still have to go through with this if we want to keep Eren. That's why we all packed up our stuff, tied some strings together and headed into the forest (Inside the walls, but deemed a safe distance from civilization by guess who.) on horseback.

Brat doesn't say anything to me the whole trip. I'm guessing he's also afraid to speak in my presence since I didn't hear a word uttered to Aruro, Erd, Gunter, or even Petra. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't beginning to feel guilty.

"Captain, I believe this is where we're meant to camp!"

Petra's voice takes me out of my daze.

"Yeah. Alright, get your crap set up. We're leaving early tomorrow, I want to be out here for the least amount of time possible. I'm sure I'm not the only one who considers this a waste of time and energy."

"Not really,"

Erd comments, almost happily.

"I kind of like time in the outdoors."

"It may be to your liking, but right now we could be going over the plans for the expedition."

Erd shrugs, and Gunter throws the tent supplies on the ground. The rest of the day is rather peaceful, casually working at building tents and setting up a fire. Petra and Aruro actually managed to catch a few fish in a nearby stream so we won't have to eat the rubbish they give us and call food. While it roasts, I sit by the fire and close my eyes.

_Erd was right… this is pretty relaxing._

Though I'll never admit it out loud, the day to chill is pretty nice. Not that it makes this any less of a waste of time.

"Levi-heichou, food's ready!"

Gunter yells to me. We all eat, and whoever cooked this fish is presumably good at it. After cleaning up, (which I was quite glad to help with) everyone settles down. Well, almost everyone. With Erd, Gunter and Aruro in the guys' tent and Petra in the girls' tent, (the boys didn't hesitate to tell her she was lucky to have it to herself) I went off for a while to get more firewood. I didn't really want it going out too early in the night, we'd be freezing our toes off. I really don't want a bunch of sick soldiers on our expedition either. It's dangerous enough as it is. When I return, Eren's staring into the fire as if in some sort of trance. He jumps when I throw an armful of sticks onto it.

"Oi, Eren, you going to fall asleep out here? Not that I have to worry about you freezing to death, fire or not."

The kid almost glares at me, probably putting down his so-called "defenses" for a brief moment.

"N-no sir."

"Then why the heck aren't you asleep in our tent? Were you not listening when I said we were leaving early tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I heard you, I just…"

I nearly let out a combination of a groan and a sigh. Is he really so scared of me that he won't even share a tent with me? I sit next to him.

"Look, Eren. I'm sorry, alright?"

He looks at me, mouth agape.

"What? It's about time I gave you an apology."

"I just thought that…"

I knew this had nothing to do with the fact that I beat him senseless. I'd done it before and there was nothing. It's the reason, obviously. The fact that he doesn't think I care. He thinks I think nothing of him. Boy, do I know how that feels.

"You thought what?"

"I thought that you thought I deserved it. You did call me a monster…"

"You are a selfish brat, and you did deserve something, but nothing to that extent. You're not a monster, at least not in the sense I meant at the time, and it's because of my lack of self-control that things are like this."

The fire crackles.

"Bit isn't that all I am to you people? An experiment?"

The passion put into the sentence is worthy of a yell, yet Eren contained it in a faint whisper. Something builds up inside me, something I can't describe. There's something in my eyes, maybe even a faint echo of the boy's fiery spirit. There's more emotion in my expression than I've shown publicly for years.

"Eren…"

"S-sir?"

He must be a little taken aback at the very least. Nobody would be used to seeing me like this. I grab his hand in a futile effort to contain myself.

"I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to tell you the truth without sugar-coating or white lies and I want you to understand that before I start."

He blinks a few times and nods. At least he's not flinching at every time I so much as glance at him anymore.

"From the official, publicized view of the Survey Corps…"

I note Eren's focus. This must be very important to him. It's not surprising.

"Yes. You are just an experiment. From Commander Erwin's point of view, you're someone who's been dealt an unfortunate hand but is still a key player in our war against the titans."

I take a deep breath, trying not to let my emotion explode. Why am I even doing this in the first place?

"From my point of view…"

Here it comes. I can't screw this up.

"You are one of the most dedicated, impassioned, determined individuals I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Yes, you make stupid decisions sometimes. Yes, you rush into things without thinking unless someone reminds you. Yes, you try to bear it all on your own shoulders. You're young, hot headed, and you hardly sit still long enough to string two freaking thoughts together or you overthink everything and come to the wrong conclusion. But you've got guts, Eren. You rush in because you care, and while it's still as dumb as a bag of bricks, you go at it with such fracking force that you know that you will. Yes, you provide us with useful data on titans, but you are so much more than that or a stupid hothead, Eren Jaeger."

The only sound is the fire flickering and random forest creatures for a few moments. I release his hand, now that my sudden flare of passion had diminished.

"Sir, I…"

"You can call me Levi when we're alone."

"Levi… thank you."

I pat his back almost awkwardly.

"No problem, kid. Now you should probably get some sleep."

Eren grins and we head off to the tent.

_Maybe I can give him a little something._


End file.
